Month: June 2016

Firstly I’d like to thank England as my second home for providing significant hilarity on many fronts this week with the double Brexit.

Saturday’s long trip to a soggy Ickenham CC did not begin without event as Maxsson and this correspondent waited patiently on the Central Line platform for a missing Ben Eldersson. The agreed 10.15am meet time came and went and we were forced to push on without our opening bowler only to find out later that he had only arisen from his slumber at 10.30am after our very own Sun Devil had spent the night in the Wild West with an Arizona State student.

We arrived to ground in dribs and drabs due to transport issues and conducted a lacklustre windball warm up which, although fun, did little to prepare us for 55 overs in the field. After winning the toss a fortunate rain delay allowed Eldersson to arrive and take the first ball of the day which was safely pouched by Maxsson at second slip, sadly the ball had not gone via the batsman and we feared our bleary eyed seamer had gone full Harmison 06. However we quickly found our lines and lengths and began to make things tough for bottom of the league Ickenham on a dodgy pitch. Soon the pressure told as Alvinsson grabbed our first wicket at slip off Woffsson to get us going. This wicket brought their overseas to the crease and he set his stall out to block for days. He batted nicely for 61 out of 113 and Ickenham will be gutted to lose him from next week when he disappears. Woffsson and Chetansson bowled in tandem and they scored very slowly losing wickets at regular intervals. Our fielding was ok if not quite on a par with the previous week’s dominant display. Chetansson picked up 2 wickets; one caught at short leg and the other clean bowled with what might have been the quickest ball of the day. After 15 uninterrupted Woffindensson overs he was replaced by Ravisson who was probably our pick of the bowlers on the day managing to bowl during the only period of their innings where they attacked and succeeding in conceding very few runs and picking up an excellent Bellwood stumping. Eldersson returned to burgle 3 wickets at the end and they finished all out off the last ball of their 55 overs for 113.

Tea was good with a selection of cakes and sandwiches, not a memorable one but a solid effort. The early throes of Poland vs Switzerland provided the entertainment.

They opened the bowling with seam from one end and overseas left arm spin from the other. With the overs outstripping the runs comfortably and Alvin already back in the shed we were probably a touch fortunate that the seamer pulled a hamstring after 5 overs and could not continue allowing us to see clearly for the first time why Ickenham are bottom of the league. Their 3, 4, 5 and 6th bowlers all got thrashed at least a run a ball by Maxsson (38) and Johnson (33) with many full tosses and half trackers turned into lost cricket balls as they kept the overseas out at the other end. Unchanged throughout the innings, their overseas bowled well picking up myself and Waqasson’s wickets cheaply and then later pulling a 1-2 punch to bowl Rob Johnson round his legs and trap skipper Faruqisson LBW first ball inducing the slightest of wobbles (Elders stopped drinking the celebratory pint he had started early, it really was that tense!). The ship was steadied and launched full steam into port by Chetansson and Woffsson who launched a couple of sixes for good measure as we cantered in.

Some dire Wales vs NI was watched before we assessed Eldersson’s action with rigorous video analysis.

A single pint was consumed in a particularly Brexit-y West Ruislip pub called ‘The Soldier’s Return’ and home time was then declared after some dodgy looks from the locals. An important 10 points given the weather prevented some of the enemy keeping pace with The Mighty Trees. Hopefully we can draw inspiration from the plucky Icelanders and push on for promotion or at very least get our own cool Viking chant like them.

But the night was only just beginning for the public transport mugs that had to make their way back to London from the end of the Central Line. Max and I decided to sample the night life of Bethnal Green as transport issues had dumped us there.

To my astonishment I woke up on Sunday morning without my cricket bag. I called the relevant establishments to no avail and feared the worst. As a last ditch hail mary I set off back to Bethnal Green on foot without a hope. Then roughly halfway between my house and the bars I spotted my bag outside of The White Hart pub on the street and slightly more concerning was that a rough looking South African man was shadow batting and testing the pickup of my bat! He claimed that the gear was now his and we entered into somewhat of a standoff that was only settled by him dialling the number etched onto my bat cover. He said if I’d been another 2 minutes it would have been gone and then he finished the conversation by asking if I’d take a game at Wandsworth Common on Tuesday night. No thank you sir.

The 2nd XI arrived at the Walker Ground for a top of the table clash with Harrow St Mary’s to find a marvellous (if a little damp) looking outfield and a pitch suffering at one end from a cover malfunction. It looked as though it would be tricky for batsmen and slippery for the bowlers.

Captain Faruqi won the toss for the first time this season and asked the visitors to bat on the facilities that would take some negotiating early on. For some inexplicable reason there was no sawdust anywhere on the ground and despite this only likely to affect the bowlers, HSM’s captain insisted that the game couldn’t begin until some was sourced. Skipper Faruqi jumped in his car and embarked on a tour of Southgate’s builders merchants and pet shops, so the game was delayed by 45 minutes. It was a farce and fairly embarrassing, however, the time delay turned out to be inconsequential as an early finish was on the horizon.

As the rest of the team waited for the skip to don his whites, we distributed the sawdust and positioned ourselves in the field. With a lack of a 2nd opening bowler in the XI, Waqas Kahn trotted down to fine leg for Ben Elders’ over, optimistically hoping his part-time seamers would earn him the new ball. However, at the change of ends, Faruqi called to Chetan Telang to begin uphill proceedings. Cue gentle mocking of Waqas with lines like “good spell Waqs” etc etc. It turned out to be an inspired choice as Chetan’s fizzing off-breaks combined with variations in spin, pace and flight, from both over and round the wicket proved unplayable and devastating.

Ben used the 2 paced nature of the damp end of the pitch to good effect. His consistency and good lift from a length meant that there were very few chances to score and initially the HSM’s players left patiently. There was nothing being given at either end, and it was the 5th over before the first run was conceded – a single to mid-off. Eventually this pressure told and HSM were reduced to 12-3 as they tried to invent methods to score.

Ben (13-8-15-2) and particularly Chetan (INCREDIBLE figures of 21-10-20-6) were patient and unrelenting. Runs were almost impossible to come by and wickets fell at regular intervals. We caught well, stand in keeper Ollie Bellwood had 3 dismissals and good ground fielding meant that when the ball did venture off the square, it went no further. As the maidens stacked up the run rate slipped down towards 1, and regular encouragement of “COME ON THE OVERS!” could be heard when at several points overs overtook runs on the scoreboard. Indeed, when the 9th wicket fell, overs and runs were tied at 38.

Unfortunately their number 11 ruined that contest with a few slog-sweeps over cow, and he was the only HSM’s player to reach double figures (22). It was commented that lesser teams may have scored more runs by resorting to agricultural practices earlier on. Ravi Desai (8-3-25-2) was his main target, but bowled well other than that once Faruqi was eventually able to wrestle the ball from Ben’s hands after drinks. Chetan decided that enough was enough and clean bowled the last man with a speedy carrom ball to end the innings. Harrow St Mary’s were 61 all out.

That left us a 40 minute session before tea and our openers Ali Lynch and Declan O’Leary marched out for our response. At this point we finally saw something in the way of explanation as to why HSM’s are our nearest rivals (other than a respectable warm up that began before ours!). Their premier seamer bowled sharpish left-arm inswingers and a slow left-armer bowled tidily from the other. However with 59 overs to get 61 runs, it was impossible for HSM’s to apply any pressure and although they dismissed Ali (1) and Max Joseph (3) before tea, a perfectly stoic innings from Dec (23*) and a typically fluent one from Waqas (21*) saw us home for a comfortable 8 wicket win.

It was an amazing day that will live long in the memory as the most dominant fielding display that I’ve played in. It was also a great result against the team 2nd in the league that means we’ve opened up a 12 point lead at the top of the table.

Southgate recovered their batting form with an excellent and comprehensive win at Eastcote and by winning the toss and electing to bat first were awarded two extra points to add to their winning ten.

The original pitch was too wet to play on and a new one was prepared nearby but it was very green looking and there was some difficulties early on for the Southgate batsmen. Cameron Steele, playing tentatively forward, was bowled by a good ball by the home team’s sharpish opening bowler, who generally bowled a large collection of ‘Bassetts’ (licquorice allsorts) but at some considerable pace.

At 5-1 things looked ominous but Tom Edrich and Michael Stevens showed a combination of great courage, much skill and just a little bit of luck and added 100 runs on the difficult surface surface.

Tom was hit a number of times around the rib area but soldiered on to 35 before finally losing patience and trying to hit the off spinner over mid on into the vacant area behind him.

Mikey was in sparkling form and played probably his best innings for the Club. Any ball which was not of good length, whether short or full, was basically dispatched to the boundary. He was joined by Arnie Sahota who batted in his usual languid but fluent style and smote to all parts, scoring 50 at over a run a ball. Ashley Sivarajah added 34 not out at the end and Mikey was 113 not out when Faisal declared after 49 overs.

Eastcote, having bowling reasonably and fielded rather well were not at the races with the bat. Southgate’s seam attack of the Mullazadah brothers and Mir, later aided by spin twins Ashley and Mukesh Bhatt rattled through the Eastcote batsmen and bowled them out for just 74 very quickly.

Club satatistician, Ricky Gunn may confirm that this victory by 190 runs could well be our largest ever winning margin in the Middlesex League, and certainly is in the Premier Division.

At first glance the above scorecard would suggest that Southgate were comfortably beaten by Enfield in this re-arranged Middlesex Cup match.

Two points to make.

To succeed in Sunday Cup cricket you must have full availability.

Dropped catches cost matches !

Faisal won the toss and Tom Edrich (35) and Arnie Sahota (35) added 70 for the first wicket against high quality seam bowling. Michael Stevens continued where he left off the previous day and scored 61 and with Haydan Morton making 34 a total of 218 was a reasonable score against what was a very good all round Enfield bowling attack.

If Southgate’s three best bowlers had not been missing Enfield would not have got anywhere near that total in reply. With the attack at Faisal’s disposal Southgate could still win if they bowled and fielded well.

Enfield have an extraordinary opening batsman named Neville Talbot, a South African whose main intention seems to be to hit every ball for six, or at least four. He doesn’t deal in singles.

At the end of the first over Enfield were 17-0, but on the third ball of the second over from Haydan he cut the ball very gently to

backward cover and was dropped by a substitute fielder (subbing for Scott Ellis who had pulled a muscle whilst batting). No blame attached to the very young substitute who was understandably nervous and who upped his game considerably after that. Talbot went on to smash 80 at about 2 per ball aided by the short straight Enfield boundaries but he is a match winner. You can’t afford to give him a life so early. He apparently scored a 30 ball league hundred for Enfield earlier in the season and is really something to be reckoned with but the way he plays he’s going to give early chances which must be taken.

The game progressed and Southgate had their second chance to win the game when their overseas Australian was dropped by our overseas Australian when he just 10 ! He went on to make 60 not out and steer the home team to what looked like an easy victory.

This week saw us away to Kenton. A ground we have been playing at for the past 5/6 and never won a game there. In-fact besides a 4 pointer last year we have always lost.

Certain grounds have certain odd features and rules about them. No rope at the pavilion end at Lord’s, the tree at Canterbury, I once played a game of cricket in Dubai where there was a lamp post at square leg. Kenton is in a league of its own when it comes to ground rules. If you don’t know it, it’s not the most picturesque of grounds on the circuit, but they’re a good bunch of lads and teas are good too.

Local Rules:

On one side, no matter how far you smash it there are absolutely no sixes. If you hit straight, it is only six if you hit it into the houses.

On the other side square it is only six if the ball goes over a wall and not on the footpath.

Straight ahead from the other end is only 6 if It goes over the fence and into the tennis courts!!!!

Once everybody knew the rules it was time to toss up, I lost the toss for the 6th time in a row. We were inserted on a track which looked a bit suspect and an outfield that I can only assume their Groundsman had a love for nature and preferred not to harm the grass!

Declan and Lynch opened up. The ball started to talk with some rising off a good length and some staying low. The pair however started to rotate the strike well and pick up some cheeky singles.

Unfortunately Declan who was looking good again had one that lifted off a length and was caught at slip. 17 for 1. Ally started to get some deliveries that were doing all sorts so his approach changed to if it’s in the slot hit it. Actually that’s pretty much the attitude every week from our Scotsman!

Max on the other end had cautiously started to settle himself in and looked like he was planning to make himself comfortable. Ally’s innings of 30 which was made of 5x4s, six singles and 2 twos came to an end and we were now 42 for 2 off 11.

Chetan Tendulkar went in at 4 and hit a quick 29 until going for 1 pull shot too many and got himself out for 29. Judging by their celebrations I think Kenton realised how big that wicket was as Chetan looked in great touch from ball 1. 103 for 3 off 23.

The score was great, and we still had some good batting to follow.

Our man in form Waqas in next didn’t seem himself on the day and was out for 5, Ellis didn’t last too long either out for 1. 118 for 5 off 28 and I thought the Kenton curse is back.

The next 19 overs was just what Southgate 2s are all about this year. That fight, that effort and that teamwork.

Woffinden and Max put on 105 runs which was made of 1s 2s , 12 fours and 3 sixes. Tennis courts, houses whatever the rules were and however long the grass was there was no stopping them. Woffinden hit an entertaining 47 while Max finished on 101. Max’s innings was a perfect example of moving up the gears.

Some great nurdling, dabs, drives and towards the end some impressive hoiks!!

We ended on 249 all-out from 50 after the last of us went and had a swing. A decent score and with our bowling attack confidence levels were high..

So first over back at them and a cautious start by their batsman. Ben charging in and a couple off it. Sam Wadham unfortunately picked the short straw and ended up having to open from the end he didn’t really want .

Their opener seemed to have picked up on this and hit 44464 off the first 5 balls. However the magician that Sam is got the last one to peg back in and one shot too many saw him off.

Elders from one end and Wadham the other picked up the 1st 5 wickets and we had them on the ropes.

Ravi came in and bowled tight while Woffinden did what he does best.

I swapped the bowling around trying to break a partnership which started to just make us slightly nervous.

I even bought myself on pretty late and took an over to find my rhythm. Some great advice from Woffers at mid-off telling me to put my bowlers hat on and not the captains really helped and we cleaned up their tail in no time.

Elders 17 for 2

Wadham 37 for 3

Woffers 14 for 1

Chetan telang 15 for 1

Faruqi 9 for 3.

122 all out and massive win for us at Kenton. Great way for Wadham to be with us in his last game at the club and 12 points in the bag. We are currently top of the table but play Harrow st Mary’s this week who are the other side challenging us, so will be a good contest.

Hampstead, having been bowled out by Richmond the previous week for 72, bravely decided to bat, and initially must have regretted their decision as they lost both openers for just 3 runs, one wicket each to Faisal and Rashid.

Skipper Clark and Evison settled in however and despite a few alarms on a pitch which seemed to favour seamers they batted throughout the pre-lunch period, taking the total to 74-2 after 26 overs. The 26th over was the first to be bowled by either of Southgate’s two spinners as the home team’s seamers, although looking threatening at times, failed to obtain a further wicket.

After lunch the umpires and the two batsmen were eventually joined by a rag, tag and bobtail fielding side, clearly impressed enough with the PINK lunch to delay their re-entry to the field!

This lateness obviously ruined Evison’s concentration, as he effectively gave his wicket away on the second ball after lunch going for a second run when there was only about one and a half runs there.

With Haydon Morton (3-51 in 16) and Mukesh Bhatt (4-52 in 16.5 overs) now bowling in tandem the wickets began to fall steadily and Hampstead were bowled out for 189. An improved fielding performance on the previous week with Phil Dunnett taking two sharp stumpings and Haydan very nearly taking three catches, two of which would have been spectacular.

The Southgate reply never really got started. Although new recruit Cameron Steel, from Durham University, batted carefully, only Haydan Morton (44) and Dunnett (41) really troubled the scorers to any great extent. Haydan is genuinely contributing in at least two disciplines each week and it was good to see Phil showing his undoubted class, batting in the ‘wicketkeeping’ position of no. 8.

Hopefully this will be the renaissance of Phil’s batting. Special personal support all the way from Birmingham may also have inspired him of course!

Regretfully, nobody else was able to add significantly to the total and Southgate were bowled out for 140. It must be added that on this particular day Southgate did not quite have the rub of the green with umpiring decisions. Perhaps another day they will.

Next week we are at Eastcote who are now one of only two teams below us in the table and so a good batting performance is essential.

Southgate were comprehensively beaten by a North Middlesex team who had lost three of their previous four games, albeit by narrow margins.

Having won the toss and deciding to bat the home team’s openers proceeded steadily against the Southgate quicker bowlers and reached 61 without loss before Farhad surprisingly clean bowled Holmes.

It was time for Southgate’s team of spinners to take control and wickets now fell steadily despite what seemed to be a rather lacklustre fielding display. Ashley Sivarajah (1-22 in 9), Haydon Morton (1-31 in 10 overs) and Mukesh Bhatt with 4 wickets and two juggled catches changed the picture of the game and by the 40th over North Middlesex had collapsed to 141-8.

Rashid returned to hopefully ‘finish them off ’ and with Mukesh bowling beautifully at the other end it was now Southgate’s game to lose.

This I’m afraid they did, as Southgate’s poor attitude in the field reared its head and the home team’s last three batsmen took advantage and added 63 in the last 10 overs including no less than 34 in the last three.

Southgate’s reply can only be described as pathetic. Two good opening bowlers bowled an excellent line and length into the corridor of uncertainty outside the off stump and the Southgate batsmen were unable to cope. Later on a series of wides (18) by their first change bowler boosted the total to 56.

A pity such a display was watched by Southgate’s biggest travelling support of the season, 15, although that figure did include my two granddaughters and Karl’s dog, Biggles!

Eastcote next week and I would remind everybody, the batsmen especially, that next week’s batting line up will probably be identical to that which recently notched up 275-6 against Twickenham.

Think Twickenham NOT North Middlesex!

Peter Jouning

“You’re riding high in April, shot down in May…”

(2nd XI v MTSSC)

So sang ‘Ol Blue Eyes, Mr Frank Sinatra. And no-one will feel that sentiment more deeply this week than Southgate CC 2nd XI this week, especially interim captain, another chairman of the board, Rob Johnson. Pre-match confidence could not have been higher coming into this one. This was, after all, a home fixture off the back of four wins from the first four games of the season, the fourth a convincing result against our local rivals

Things started swimmingly. With the opposition arriving in dribs and drabs (they only had six ready to go at the scheduled start time), we won the toss and had the choice of batting against half a team, or taking advantage of the bowler-friendly conditions. It was, to be honest, a win-win situation, and we fielded, expecting the Sun to come out later in the day. With a solid showing from our opening pair of Abdul Quiyum and Sam Wadham, the latter playing possibly his last game in a Southgate shirt, we were delighted to have taken three wickets in the first five overs and were right on top. This was backed up by Ravi Desai and a very good spell from Omair Ali.

At 70 for 7, the visitors were wobbling and we aimed to keep them to 90, which is when the more astute observer would have noticed a crack in the gloss of our performance. A feisty 9th wicket stand by two batsmen who would undoubtedly have batted higher had they been at the ground earlier, edged the score to 119. This represented a tricky little chase, certainly more than we had anticipated.

While we tucked into baguette sandwiches and potato wedges, London’s unusual weather took an absurd turn as Wadham was caught in a cream cake shower. Bringing a whole new depth to the term “sconed”, this will surely be the last dessert to fall on his head as a Southgate player.

So, onto our fateful run-chase. A youthful opening pair of Shiv and Lynchy, plus Waqas at 3 (the victim of a seriously good low catch), were able to get us to 40 before disaster struck. Johnson was a little over-eager and contrived to miss a straight one, Scott Ellis played an eminently forgettable heave aimed over mid-wicket. A ring-rusty Bellwood became the third man bowled leaving the innings in disarray. 40 for 3 had become 50 for 6, which quickly became 60 for 9 and all was lost, or was it?

Throughout the madness, our number four Adeel Saeed, had been resolute in his defence, restricting himself to almost no drives at all. In Ravi Desai, batting at 11, he found a kindred spirit and playing for pride rapidly evolved into playing for points.

Sam Wadham’s last prediction as a Southgate player will read as follows; “if they can get us to a hundred, we’ll win.” Well, they got us to 96 (for a point), to a hundred, and to 108 (for a second point). Unfortunately, having batted so admirably, and farmed the strike expertly, Adeel played on to his own wicket trying to find a single at the end of an over. It had been superb effort from our final pair on a two-paced wicket, and put the discipline of the rest of the batting order to shame.

I know that there has been a great deal of soul-searching in the Johnson household about this result, but really the only thing we did wrong was bat impatiently on a difficult surface. I’ll leave it to Sam Wadham to give us the benefit of his wisdom for the last time as a Southgate player:

“Each time I find myself layin’ flat on my face I just pick myself up and get back in the race…”

OK, that was Frank Sinatra again, but you get the idea.

Ollie Bellwood

Southgate 3rd XI v Perivale Phonecians

After a very frustrating last game against North London where we picked up 4points a win this week was a must in a season that seems very promising. We were hosting Perivale Phoenicians at home this week and weren’t quite sure what to expect from them.

Having won the toss in the CAR PARK !! Adrian decided to bowl first. He then duly informed that he has inspected the pitch prepared and decided to play on the pitch next to it which would play better as the game goes on.

Perivale opened with 2 of their more experienced players and in our ranks to open the bowling we had Young Liam Babwah who performed very well last year and Roy Marett reliable as ever with very disciplined length and line.

Both bowled very well without any success as the openers played very carefully and scored a very steady 3 an over . At drinks they had managed to score around 70 for no loss.

After drinks however is when things changed when Roy had one of the openers run out who was looking to score quick single. Adrian had the other opener caught and bowled straight after. From then on Phil Martin 4 / 41 with his left arm spin and Adrian 5 /24 took regular wickets as all the other batsmen from Perivale were trying to score quick runs ended up on 130 all out in 45 overs.

At tea there was a surprise, wedges was added to the menu along with the usual sandwiches and cake which was nice. I was asked to open the innings which I was glad for with Shoaib after couple other players refused the opportunity!!

Shoaib after being dropped in the first over started playing some excellent shots and me being steady on the other hand gave us a very quick start. We were 112 in 16 overs when I was out run out. Marcello came out and scored a very quick 18 hitting some very good shots that’s when Shoaib lost his wicket trying to do the same on 80. In the end Marcello and Sarfaraz finished the game off.

Another satisfying and confident win under our belt was just what was needed before we play Winchmore Hill away who are second in the table and seem to be a team capable of challenging for the promotion.

Ankit Patel

4th XI v Alexandra Park

The 4’s retained their unbeaten record despite a scrappy performance against Alexandra Park. The game took place at AP’s Racecourse ground in the shadow of the TV transmitter. Southgate fielded a ‘veteran’ side which was well stocked with batsman but a little light on bowling. The Southgate XI were sent into the field to start the game and the bowling pairing of Rishi Kent and Tom Clark were handed the new ball.

The first few overs were expensive, with the very short east boundary proving fertile scoring territory. Eventually the breakthrough came as first change bowler Shaf Babwah bowled straight through the defense of Bajay to break up the 62 run opening partnership. Kent was still trundling up the hill at the other end and after a long opening stand it was a case of London buses as Kent had new man Azeem spooning the ball up for an easy caught and bowled. There was another wicket just one run later as Kent beat opener Freestere for pace and sent him back to the pavilion just one shy of his half-century.

That however, was really the last good news as fourth and fifth men, Lee and Egan, put together a 148 run partnership to really take the chance of a win away from the Southgate side. The next wicket was taken by Tom Clark has he took off a little bit of pace and had Lee ahead of the ball and skying it into midwicket for Joe McCormick to take a catch on the run. There was a mini resurgence late in the innings as Kent came back to bowl sixth man Scott and then catch the next man LBW on the very next ball to set up a hat-trick. The game was then slightly soured by AP’s number eight batsman taking to the field with no pads. It wasn’t in the spirit of cricket or how the game had been played to that point and it was a little surprising that no one at AP stopped him.

Anyway, he was able to fend off the hat-trick ball and then became a passenger as Egan punched his way to an excellent hundred and his side to a score of 263 off 47 overs.

That left Southgate with 45 overs left to either take an unlikely win or block for a draw. Doug Gordon and David Lowen started off with the first intention and they were ahead of the run rate until Lowen was bowled after a run a ball 15. Gordon was the next to go with the score on 43. That brought McCormick and Syed together, they put on a 39 run partnership before Syed was caught on 21. The Southgate innings was now in the balance, the win was still a possibility but pushing for that was also likely to result in a loss.

McCormick’s partnerships with Tom Clark, Sam Larner and Graham Clark only yielded 34 more runs and with six wickets down and 148 more needed it was now up to the Southgate tail to hold out for an unlikely draw. The eighth batsman up was Peter McLoughlin and he put together 45 runs in 17 overs alongside McCormick as AP sensed victory.

McCormick had smashed his way to a score of 77 but with five overs left to see out, he was caught and bowled. Just two overs later John Stone was out leaving just two wickets remaining. A game that had looked like it was petering out into a uninspiring draw was now firmly back in the balance. It was advantage AP when Shaf Babwah was out second ball after an LBW appeal. That brought Kent and McLoughlin together for the final over. Despite a crowded field and some fierce bowling the pair were able to see off the final over and secure the draw.

Southgate 4’s return home next week to face North London 5’s. Southgate will look to keep their unbeaten run going.